


Pancakes

by Serphinia



Category: The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-01-02
Updated: 2015-01-02
Packaged: 2018-03-05 00:09:19
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,436
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3097655
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Serphinia/pseuds/Serphinia
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Americans make pancakes for breakfast on Saturday mornings, so that is what Steve does.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Pancakes

Steve Rogers knew that normal Americans ate pancakes for breakfast on a Saturday morning. It was not a thing they did during the War, when fresh ingredients were hard to come by and the time to turn them into pancakes even harder. So now that he was Out Of The War, he was going to do things properly.

The first time he took a bite of a syrup laden pancake in the kitchen of the Avengers tower, Natasha found him half an hour later curled up under the table and sobbing “Buckybuckybucky” under his breath. It took her an hour to coax him out, with Clint standing guard at the door, and even then he refused to tell her what it was about. But from then on, he did not eat breakfast on a Saturday alone.

The next week, Bruce wandered in, made them both chamomile tea, and proceeded to talk to Steve about his latest medical journal the entire time he was eating. Steve didn’t even notice the pancakes going down until he scraped his fork against an empty plate. Bruce carried on chatting long enough to make it seem natural, made himself another cup of tea, and wandered back to his lab.

The week after, Clint showed up while he was making them and proceeded to cover the kitchen in flour and milk until they both had a huge stack in front of them. Then Natasha showed up with strawberries and blueberries and raspberries and made Steve try them all, while Clint tried to juggle the various berries and shoot them at Tony, who had come in to make coffee and hiss at the light and the blueberries hitting his eye. Steve liked strawberries best.

The next week, it was Thor, who bet him that he couldn’t eat as many pancakes as he could pop tarts in ten minutes. It was a fairly equal contest, as although pancakes take longer to make, one can only fit four pop tarts in a toaster at one time. In the end, they drew. Steve didn’t bother with syrup this time - it would have taken too long. 

The next week was the anniversary of Bucky’s death, but Steve had not found the words to tell anyone and so almost everyone was away on business of one kind or another. Tony found Steve in the kitchen staring at the stove, and proceeded to make pancakes and black coffee bitter enough to wash the taste of ash out of Steve’s mouth. Steve ate the pancakes like an android, his eyes so lost and empty that Tony washed up without complaint and then dragged Steve down to the workshop, where he blared AC/DC loud enough that no thoughts could make themselves heard. He proceeded to show him all his new designs for the Avengers gear, asking Steve what he thought of each piece, and Steve forgot what day it was for a whole hour. When he remembered, Tony gave him more coffee and then whisky to take the blood from his mouth and the ghosts from his eyes. They stayed in that workshop for a full twenty four hours, Tony designing stuff on the spot to keep Steve occupied until he fell asleep. 

Weeks passed, and he was never alone on a Saturday. Bruce came by fortnightly and Steve found himself learning more than he thought he ever would about medical science. Natasha and Clint would come by the week of a farmers market which exotic new toppings to try and massive amounts of mess to make. Tony came down frequently, getting caught up in Bruce’s journal recounting or in food fights with Clint, or just downing coffee and trying to steal Steve’s pancakes. 

After a year of sparring and inventing and designing and occasional therapy, it is another anniversary of Bucky’s death. Maybe it is coincidence, maybe Tony told them, but all the Avengers were there. Natasha plunked down a bag of Steve’s favourite fruit while Clint got the eggs, milk and flour out. Thor was told that he was not allowed pop tarts today, and to sort the syrups out. Tony stuck the kettle on while Bruce sorted out teabags and coffee and sugar and milk. When it became apparent that Steve wasn’t getting out of bed, they all went to drag him out, even though it was a Sunday. He made pancakes in a daze, but his eyes were alive, if kind of watery. When the pancakes were done, Bruce explained his latest experiment and then Tony explained his. Natasha first confiscated the pop tarts, then Clint’s slingshot, then the pop tarts again. They ate, then Tony raised his mug and everyone followed him. “To Bucky,” they chorused, and Steve cried, and echoed “To Bucky”, and took a final bite.

On Monday, Clint went to Arizona. He didn’t tell anyone why and Natasha couldn’t get hold of him, though she wasn’t worried.

On Tuesday, Thor went back to Asgard indefinitely.

On Wednesday, Tony and Pepper went on holiday to a private island he owned in the Caribbean.

On Thursday, Bruce went to a medical conference in Vienna.

On Friday, Natasha and Steve played Mario Kart and listened to old tunes on a gramophone. 

On Saturday, Nick Fury was shot. 

********************************************************************************************************

The first Saturday the Winter Soldier joined them for breakfast, he took one bite of the pancake, threw the plate across the room and then threw up, silently and efficiently, into the bin. Steve held his hair and cleaned up.

The second Saturday the Winter Soldier sat down to breakfast with the air of a man going to his death, ate quickly and quietly, washed his plate and left without saying a word. 

The third Saturday he did not come down at all. When Steve went to find him he was curled up in bed sobbing. With nothing else to do, Steve joined him.

Steve took to sleeping in the Winter Soldier’’s room, crouched on a chair by his bed. Most mornings, the Winter Soldier tried to kill him. 

Tony wanted nothing to do with him, but when he saw Steve’s black eye he set up surveillance in the Winter Soldier’s room and stayed up night after night with Steve, ten floors below him, watching him and ordering JARVIS to flood the room with sleeping gas should the Winter Soldier become violent. He was awake, on his god knows how many-th cup of coffee, when the Winter Soldier had his nightmare. 

“No Howard not him please not him save me Steve save me pleasepleaseplease!”

The harsh, guttural German.

“Wipe him.”

A long, piercing scream of remembered pain.

“Target acquired, Howard Stark” 

Steve’s face was white and washed with tears as he stared up at the camera. Ten floors below, Tony stared back as the bottom of his world fell out. 

The next morning was a Saturday (all important days are). Bucky Barnes woke up, blinked blearily in the dull light, and croaked “Steve?”. He cried, and so did Bucky, and Tony’s eyes were red when he bought up the pancakes and they shared breakfast in bed. Bucky apologised over and over, and so did Steve, and Tony pulled out a screwdriver from somewhere and began tinkering with Bucky’s arm. At around lunch time, Natasha showed up dragging Clint, Thor, a bewildered Bruce and a fruit salad. She and Bucky embraced, exchanged a volley of Russian. She tried to stab him and he put her in a headlock, and then they embraced again. Clint gave him a fist bump, Thor gave him a pop tart, and Bruce gave him anti anxiety pills. They ate fruit together and laughed, and Steve made introductions and Bruce said “You’re a war hero you know”. They smiled through tears.

Bucky goes to therapy.

So does Steve.

So does Tony.

The Avengers form a cocoon around Bucky and keep him safe from everything. Bruce teaches him to meditate, Natasha spars with him for hours a day, Thor shows him how to use the microwave and the all important toaster, Clint gives him a Nerf gun and regrets it every day after. Steve curls around him every night and holds him through the nightmares. Sometimes Tony joins them. Slowly, they heal.

A year later, they are eating pancakes in the kitchen when a call comes through from SHIELD. The last remaining Hydra base has been found. Tony shoots up the stairs to his launching pad and Thor follows. Natasha and Clint head to the armory to gear up, and Bucky passes Steve his shield.

Together, they avenge…

They avenge the seventy years that Bucky lost.


End file.
